Family Connection – Abraham & Isaac

In the car...

Today’s lesson – Abraham & Isaac

Sacrifice. It’s something we all struggle with. Discuss with the family some simple sacrifices, like giving somebody the opportunity to go in front of you in traffic or waving somebody through the stop sign.

Sometimes we can be in a hurry to get somewhere. Discuss with the family people who walk through traffic. When they walk through it, they end up jamming up traffic. The plan is to use the crosswalk so that everybody has their turn. Sometimes it’s hard to sacrifice time and you rush through a stop sign, cut off the car behind you, or run through traffic. If we just take a moment and sacrifice our time, it will relieve our stress of rushing.

At home...

Read Genesis 22:1-18

Abraham and Sarah were promised a baby in their late age. God granted this promise and they had Isaac. Isaac was a blessing, but in this story God asked Abraham to do something impossible: sacrifice his son.

Discuss sacrifice with the family. Have you ever given something you really wanted to somebody else? How did it make you feel? It was probably hard to do. After Abraham was ready to give his son to God, God saw that he was true. God stopped Abraham and sent him a ram as a gift to sacrifice instead of Isaac. Were you rewarded with joy after your sacrifice? Could you see the other person’s happiness?

Around the table...

God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and Sarah. Their joy must have been incredible! God asking Abraham to sacrifice this gift was immense. When God called to Abraham in his dream, without hesitation Abraham said, “Here I am.”

Discuss sacrifice with your family. Would you give up something to somebody else, like your favorite part of dinner/dessert? Abraham was about to give up something very special and I’m pretty sure he was sad about it. When he was ready to give it up, God rewarded him! Discuss how God rewards us when we are obedient to His commands.

Have you ever felt God telling you to do something? Did you obey? What happened when you did or didn’t? Discuss prayer and being obedient to God’s calling.

GO DEEPER: Discuss sacrifice. Did you ever give up anything that you didn’t want to?